COVID 19 Preparedness

 Welcome to CommunityChiroWellness.com.  

Information on this page includes our COVID-19 preparedness and response plan to prevent our patients and staff from a COVID-19 viral infection during the 2020 pandemic.

COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan

This Preparedness and Response Plan has been created by Community Chiropractic & Wellness Center to decrease the risk of contracting and/or spreading coronavirus and/or COVID-19 during the 2020 pandemic. We intend to take every measure possible to ensure the safety of our doctors, staff, patients, and community.

Safety/Prevention Measures

 Our clinic has informed all staff on the wide range of possible COVID-19 symptoms. The most frequent symptoms are fever, cough, and shortness of breath, but they are not the only ones. The following symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to coronavirus:

• Our clinic is ensuring that providers, staff, patients, and other public visitors have access to face masks while in enclosed places. For more information on the use of cloth face coverings:  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html.

• Our clinic has created and implemented a “social distancing” plan for providers, employees, and patients, keeping people at least six (6) feet apart from each other, as much as possible. This plan includes the use of signs, contact barriers, entrance limits, patient waiting in vehicles until appointments and specialized hours, as much as possible. 

Our clinic also suggests an individual seek immediate medical attention if they experience trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, new confusion or inability to arouse, and/or bluish lips or face.

 Our clinic has recommended doctors and staff familiarize themselves with the following resources:

• • The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) latest information about COVID-19 and the global outbreak: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov.
  • CDC: How COVID-19 Spreads (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/how-covid-spreads.html)
  • Interim Clinical Guidance for Management of Patients with Confirmed Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/clinical-guidance-management-patients.html)
  • Infection Control Guidance for Healthcare Professionals about Coronavirus (COVID-19) https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/infection-control.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Finfection-control%2Findex.html 

• Our clinic emphasizes good hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette protocols, including covering coughs and sneezes, for all employees and patients. See CDC Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings: https://www.cdc.gov/handhygiene/. See also CDC Coughing and Sneezing: https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/hygiene/etiquette/coughing_sneezing.html.
• Our clinic has implemented a daily screening program for employees and asks all staff to self-monitor and stay home if sick. If symptoms develop while at work, employees will be sent home. See State of Michigan Guidance for Healthcare Worker Self-Monitoring and Work Restriction In the Presence of Sustained Community Transmission of  Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): https://www.michigan.gov/documents/coronavirus/Interim_HCP_Guidance_03.21.2020_684474_7.pdf.

• Our clinic is working to reduce office risk by utilizing telehealth options when and where possible.
• Our clinic has instructed staff to examine each day’s patient roster to determine which patients coming in are at high risk of adverse outcomes from COVID-19, including older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions (if known), including:
• Our clinic has also instructed doctors and staff that all patients should also screened for: Fever, cough, shortness of breath, nasal/sinus congestion or runny nose, sore throat, body aches, and/or diarrhea
• Our clinic is recommending that all patients be screened to determine if there has been close contact in the last 14 days with someone with a diagnosis of COVID-19, or with someone who has travelled internationally or outside Michigan
• Our clinic requires patients who answer “yes” to these screening questions without reasonable explanation such as pre-existing diagnosis to be excluded for at least 72 hours (without the use of medicine to reduce fever) and to have shown improved symptoms, had no other symptoms, and at least seven (7) days have passed since the symptoms first occurred.
• Our clinic advises all doctors to review CDC Screening and Triage at Intake:  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/dialysis/screening.html. Our clinic uses the COVID-19 questionnaire below.

• Our clinic has required that signs be posted at office entrances and in waiting areas about prevention actions, and that staff follow all required county or local government orders.

• Our clinic has removed all communal objects (toys, reading material, etc.) from waiting rooms (or clean/disinfect them regularly).
• Our clinic only allows members from a single household to be present in the reception room at one time. Patients with upcoming appointments wait in their vehicles until the patient with the previous appointment has exited the building and the office is sanitized.
• Our clinic has placed a table as a physical barrier between the front desk / check-in area and patients signing into and out of the office permitting a six (6) feet distance between patients and staff members.
• Our clinic has a sliding glass window as an additional barrier between patients and staff members.
• Our clinic provides supplies such as tissues, alcohol-based hand sanitizer, soap at sinks, and trash receptacles, where appropriate.
• Our clinic provides a place to wash hands or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer containing greater than 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol.
• Our clinic wipes down all surfaces providers, staff, and patients may touch using Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved cleaning chemicals with label claims against the corona virus. We are sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for use of all cleaning and disinfection products.
• Our clinic requires symptomatic patients be referred to their primary care physician (when appropriate).
• Our clinic limits non-patient visitors as much as possible.

 After Patient Leaves

• Our clinic cleans frequently touched surfaces using EPA-approved cleaning chemicals with label claims against the corona virus, being sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for use of all cleaning and disinfection products, as well as guidelines from the EPA found here: https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/guidance-cleaning-and-disinfecting-public-spaces-workplaces-businesses-schools-and-homes.

• Our clinic uses the following COVID-19 questionnaire.

 COVID-19 Questionnaire

 Name ______________________________________  Date___________________________

 Signature ______________________________________________________________________

• Have you come into close contact (within 6 feet) with someone who has a laboratory confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis within the past 14 days?                                                                                                           YES      NO
• Have you traveled out of state in the last 14 days?                                                                            YES      NO
• Are you a 1st responder, healthcare worker or employee of an adult care facility?            YES      NO
• Are you experiencing fever or have experienced fever during the last 48 hours?               YES      NO
• Do you have shortness of breath?                                                                                                             YES      NO
• Are you coughing (more than normal)?                                                                                                 YES      NO
• Do you have a sore throat?                                                                                                                           YES      NO
• Have you lost any sense of taste or smell?                                                                                            YES      NO
• Do you have muscle aches, fatigue or diarrhea?                                                                                YES       NO
• Have you been diagnosed since March 2020 with COVID-19?                                                     YES       NO
• Have you been tested for COVID-19 antibodies?                                                                                YES       NO

 The following posters have been placed in our office:

Outdoor Sign: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/Please-Read.pdf

Indoor Sign: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/Symptoms.pdf

 Patient Handout With Tips for Home Care: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/10Things.pdf